How To Make Good Catholic Worship Aids????
  • cegner001
    Posts: 1
    What program for Mac does one use to make a Worship Aid? How does one Input Hymn Melody Music into the worship aid program? What type of License does one need to do this? What are some good, easy formats for Worship Aids?
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    There are so many options. If you're good (and patient) you can create something in word. Another friend uses Gregorio and apple pages. I believe scribus also has a mac version.
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,700
    You can use graphics of hymns from a publisher like onelicense or licensing, which cost money and require you to buy licenses.

    Or you can typeset public domain hymns yourself.

    I use Publisher and either do a single-fold on legal size paper or a tri-fold on tabloid size paper.

    I find I can usually fit everything (propers/translations, ordinary, hymns and Psalms) using the tri-fold tabloid on one page, or two pages (stapled) if using the legal size paper. Plus there's usually some room for some edifying line art that you can find from the CMAA or Corpus Christi Watershed.

    If your church has a good photocopier, it should do all of the folding and stapling for you. At a previous church, I'd have a nice group of older ladies come in and do my folding and stapling by hand - they were a very fun group and it was actually a blast hanging out with them while they did the work.
    Thanked by 2Adam Wood tomboysuze
  • ddoyle1220
    Posts: 14
    I use Publisher with legal sized paper and usually just typeset the hymns, assuming they are in the public domain, myself. If necessary, we usually buy a single-use license, as programs are used 5 to 6 times a year, tops, and thus saves almost a hundred dollars, as opposed to the annual license.
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    I use Adobe InDesign with regular sized paper and make a three-page, double-sided booklet. We only use old hymns which are in the public domain anyway so that's not a problem. I often use the line art from Musica Sacra.

    I think the prize for best worship aid ever should go to Henri de Villiers of Saint-Eugene-Saint-Cecile at Paris. Love the graphics and the elegant layout.

    His handout for last week's Missa Cantata may be found here.
    Thanked by 1theloniouslopez
  • Daniel Bennett PageDaniel Bennett Page
    Posts: 835
    You can make very professional-looking liturgy leaflets on MS-Word. Most people use only a fraction of the capabilities of so-called word-processing software.
    Thanked by 3Mark M. Chris Allen tomboysuze
  • Andrew Motyka
    Posts: 946
    I agree with Daniel. I used to use Publisher, and my predecessor used Quark (!), but there's nothing I've ever needed to do with a worship aid that Word wasn't capable of doing.
    Thanked by 1Gavin
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    nothing I've ever needed to do with a worship aid that Word wasn't capable of doing.

    So, making it look good wasn't on your "needed to" list?
    Thanked by 1matthewj
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    I've often managed to do it on a leaflet as a single A4 sheet folded in half. It depends if you include the readings and responsorial psalm. 2 sheets as a leaflet is sometimes necessary.

    My own parish church often uses an A3 tri-fold sheet, which has room left over for some nice line art.
  • Andrew Motyka
    Posts: 946
    My worship aids look perfectly fine, thank you. Not all of us lose sleep at night over font sizes and italic matchups.
    Thanked by 3matthewj Gavin lmassery
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    I usually opt for a single letter size sheet folded.
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,325
    I'm with Andrew Motyka--I regularly create very fine worship aids in Word. Publisher doesn't work well with my brain. It doesn't work the way I think it should, so I don't use it.

    My wife would probably produce something stunning in Adobe InDesign, but I don't have that program at work, and Word turns out nice quality worship aids if you know how to use it well.
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    You can make very professional-looking liturgy leaflets on MS-Word. Most people use only a fraction of the capabilities of so-called word-processing software.
    Yes, exactly!
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    Not all of us lose sleep at night over font sizes and italic matchups.


    I've never lost any sleep over it, because I always know I did it right.
    Thanked by 1SkirpR
  • Daniel Bennett PageDaniel Bennett Page
    Posts: 835
    I would lose sleep over font sizes and italic matchups, but they're handled very nicely for me in Word. The attractiveness and usability of print pieces of this type depend mostly on the careful choices of the designer, not on the capabilities of the software (as long as you have full control over line-spacing, kerning, etc.).

    If you want to get competitive with results, I'm ready. :-)
    Thanked by 1Gavin
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    It looks like you're trying to make something look nice. Would you like me to screw that up for you?

    -Yes.
    -Very yes.



    image
    Thanked by 1francis
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,979
    Word can do nearly everything Publisher can do. The interface is not as nicely arranged, so you have a little more work to do to find things.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    InDesign.

    The trouble with Word is that it treats your document as one long flow of a document- rather than as a collection of individual elements. This is great for texts. Not so great for layout-centric stuff. (Yeah, yeah- I know all about text boxes and so forth in Word- the point is it isn't the native way of dealing with things).

    If it's what you have, you can make it work. But it makes me want to punch my screen.
    Thanked by 5rich_enough CHGiffen kevinf francis theloniouslopez
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    LaTeX is the most flexible and powerful tool for document preparation.
    Thanked by 2Adam Wood Ben
  • AP23AP23
    Posts: 119
    I'm not sure what was going on in this thread, and I'm not going to take the time to read it, but probably the best commercial products are Word, and Finale for music notation.

    Some really good open source ones that are almost the same are OpenOffice.org and MuseScore. The only bad thing about MuseScore is that it's not good at chants. It's rhythm-based and you need to think a bit to make chants.

    OpenOffice: http://www.openoffice.org/porting/mac/
    MuseScore: musescore.org
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    I'm going to disagree. Something along the lines of Indesign (or it's free counterpart, scribus) is the best. The easiest (shortest learning curve) may be word, but I think it's hard to contend that it's the best.
  • Marc Cerisier
    Posts: 537
    Can you use Word? Sure. Is it easier in InDesign? Yes, if you know how to use it. I think that's the bottom line. There isn't much I can do with it that can't be done in word or publisher, but with the number of programs I do, it would be inefficient.

    Word can also be problematic when working with unusual paper sizes and commercial printers. Both are things I have to do often, but many do not. Publisher can handle both of these circumstances, but is a bit clunky because it tries to be too user friendly.

    For the typical user, Finale or Sibelius will do a fine job for modern music. The font I use for chant requires open type features that current MS products lack. InDesign and Pages are two programs that can handle it.

    At the end of the day, what is important is that you're preparing aides to help the congregation participate--outwardly or inwardly. I hate attending a liturgy at an unfamiliar parish and not being able to participate because the music has been learned by rote by the congregation.

    In our parish we have licenses from the big three to allow us to use any common repertoire.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    Also, btw

    Word is only "easier" than (for example) InDesign if you already know how to use it and don't know how to use the other.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,824
    InDesign... hands down.

    Word SUX!
  • jpal
    Posts: 365
    We have variously used Pages, Libreoffice Writer, Scribus, and Word to produce virtually identical booklets. They all have their advantages and disadvantages; it's mostly a matter of taste (except with Scribus, which is often just way too much of a pain). Provided I can set up styles and install my favorite font, I could probably use just about any word processor.

    Of the ones I listed, Libreoffice is my favorite, but on Macs, there is a bug with printing in brochure mode (i.e. booklet). So now I use Pages (in page layout mode) almost exclusively. The attached funeral program was created in Pages.

    I have not tried any of the latest professional layout packages. Last one I used was the now outdated PageMaker.
    molter-sonia-20_july_2013.pdf
    1M
    Thanked by 1JulieColl
  • francis
    Posts: 10,824
    I did this in ID

    Http://www.franciskoerber.com/wtuBrochure.pdf

    Dont think this is even possible in word
    Thanked by 1JulieColl
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,325
    That's very nice, Francis. It looks professional, like some of the things my wife has put together in InDesign. Kudos!
  • francis
    Posts: 10,824
    Tnx irishtenor

    Was professional marketing/design/webmaster/illustrator etc for 20 years.

    For print design--CS Suite. That is it. There is nothing else.
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,325
    Well, that explains why it looks like a pro did it!
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Bravo! Very well done, Francis.
  • Patricia Cecilia
    Posts: 400
    I use Serif's (UK) PagesPlus publishing software--all the functionality of MS Publisher but a great deal more intuitive (as intuitive as these things can be), Gregorio when I need chant that I cannot just snip from somewhere, and Sibelius for public domain hymns. Two sheets of letter-size paper folded in half, or one trifold 11 x 17. (This is actually for a monthly EF; if I use the letter-size, I also print a few copies of the Una Voce single-page propers; if I use trifold I incorporate the propers and translations.)
  • kevinfkevinf
    Posts: 1,190
    Glad to see another Indesign user among us. But in fairness, the learning curve is definitely somewhat sharp. But it will receive any graphic really well.

    Nice work Francis. And yes, you cannot do that in Word.
    Thanked by 2Adam Wood theloniouslopez
  • Daniel Bennett PageDaniel Bennett Page
    Posts: 835
    Despite my defense of Word as an adequate tool for most liturgy/music leaflets, something like InDesign is crucial for almost anything requiring professional printing, especially color applications, bleeds, etc. But I still assert that the potential (and implicit coolness) of a particular software package is entirely subsidiary to what's actually produced with it.
    Thanked by 5Andrew Motyka Mark M. CHGiffen Adam Wood theloniouslopez
  • francis
    Posts: 10,824
    DBP

    Yes. I concur.

    On that note, here is another very cool function of ID that I developed a couple of years ago.

    http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=gYp2Xg3dyMA
    Thanked by 1Adam Wood
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